On Angel's Wings
by Dragonbait
Summary: A Masquerade Ball, A Mysterious Stranger....True Love....
1. A Masquerade Ball

On Angel's Wings

By Quis

_To Dia_

The world was a vibrant, alive, quixotic array of colours. The dancers in their finest of fine attire danced away as though they had not a care in the world. But there was one who was not enjoying herself that night. A pale frown appeared as she nodded politely to her partner before the next part of the dance.

Inside, Quistis was screaming. She did not want to be at the dance, but she had been ordered to go. _Forced to go, more like_, she reasoned. Her feet moved in the music, its melodic tunes doing absolutely nothing to soothe the raging fire in her head, the fire that burnt and stung its brightest when she was solitary.

The infuriating thing for her was her lack of a life. Trained and bred to be a SeeD, she knew that she was not allowed to love, for love would make them weak. _Love is just a game_, her mind told her, but her heart was crying out against that notion. _Love is for anyone. All you need is love, and you will go far_.

Quistis looked up to her next partner. Clad in a red leather vest and a black trench coat, her partner conveyed an aura of mystery. Seeing that the ball was a masquerade ball, the man had a mask of plain and unadorned silver.

She herself had dressed up for the occasion. Her dress was of the finest of fine. Long billowing sleeves that trailed half way down to the floor; a tight, simplistic corseted bodice with lace around the top, with a long, trailing skirt. She looked like a queen.

A pity Quistis did not feel like a queen in all her finery. She felt like a duckling masquerading as a swan. Her partner smiled at her as he led her through the steps of the dance.

_I wish I could get free! _Her mind cried out, playing with the emotions she was starting to feel from dancing with the yet-unknown man in the iron mask.

The ball had been Rinoa's idea as a celebration of the defeat of Ultimecia. She looked radiant that night, dancing with the man of her dreams, Squall Leonhart.

Quistis moved through the steps gracefully, her feet gliding with the music. _I want to leave,_ she thought.

Her partner stopped abruptly. She glanced up, studying his eyes for any sign of recognition. A pair of emerald green eyes met her azure blue ones. He smiled, and with practiced ease, he spun her around, until she was dizzy.

"Let me go," she said, " I feel dizzy."

"My dear, I shall escort you," he said. He was very much the Knight in shiny armour that every girl would dream about, courteous to a fault, and chivalrous to the dying day.

The clock struck twelve. Its chiming melody booming out over the ballroom, and out onto the balcony, where Quistis and the still unknown stranger sat. Yet Quistis somehow felt as though she _knew_ the stranger, almost by name,

His hair was the colour of ripe straw, just waiting to be threshed. A characteristic grin appeared on his chiselled features, making him look like a demigod. 

The balcony was in the cooling air of the night where the stars shone so very brightly. He grinned as he led her inside.

"Now we shall take off our masks," the stranger whispered in her ear.

Quistis removed her half-mask, its colour ruby red and vibrant. He removed his silver mask, and she saw the all-too-familiar scar working its way down the bridge of his nose.

"Seifer?" The word came as a whisper.

Seifer grinned, and lent to whisper something in her ear.

Then he left her, standing alone in the middle of the dance floor. 

~`~`~`@ Fin@`~`~`~


	2. The Last Dance

The Last Dance

The dance was a myriad of colours. Like the swan in it's most graceful of states, the dancers danced their dance like there was no end to it. The music swayed gently, the glissando of notes and melodies sweeping them off their feet.

Two masked figures in their finery swayed on the floor, both were in their late sixties, married for forty years. Ruby lights adorned the palace where they danced; the lights shining softly as though the world had a pink and beautiful tinge to it.

Every night in my dreams I see you, I feel you 

_That is how I know you go on_

_Far across the distance_

_And spaces between us_

_You have come to show you go on_

She swayed gently with her husband of forty years leading her through the steps of the relatively simple waltz.  The tune was one that was familiar to them, it was the tune they had danced to oh-so-long ago at a masquerade ball. 

Her now grey hair had once been a beautiful blonde, but her azure eyes still remained as bright as they'd been at eighteen. She was the queen in her prime years, the woman destined to love, and be loved in return.  She wore a ruby mask, reaching to her nose, concealing the forehead from view. 

He had a scar that had long since faded into an unrecognisable line that merged with the lines that come naturally with age. The man wore a silver mask, one from long ago. He had worn it the night he had whispered some sweet nothing in his wife's ear.

The music was vibrant, with every sweet resounding note and simple melody bringing warmth to Quistis Almasy's heart. It wasn't so long ago, that the music would have conflicted with the emotions in her head and her heart. 

_Near, far, wherever you are_

I believe that the heart does go on 

_Once more, you open the door_

_And you're here in my heart and_

_My heart will go on and on_

He too, was caught up with his emotions as he danced with his wife. The magical evening that had spurred their whirlwind and halcyon romance still a vivid memory in his head.

It had been so sudden after the dance, he remembered. He had gone back to his home in Balamb, a squalor of a flat, but the blonde man couldn't stop thinking about his queen, the mysterious enigma known as Quistis Trepe.

Then, he had courted her like the knights were wont to do of old, the very chivalrous of them all. He was, to Quistis, her Lancelot, and she was Guinevere to him, the stories of the old world and its tales still surviving to the day.

They were still dancing. Forty years had not changed Quistis much, and neither had having four children, one of whom had died two years prior. Gabriel, her eldest, married a local of Balamb. They had two children, Guinevere, the eldest of their grandchildren and her brother, who made Quistis laugh every time she saw him. His name was Isaac, meaning _child of laughter_.

Tonight, their children and grandchildren were in full force. They too, had donned costumes and masks for the ball.

The array of colours were vibrant and distinctive, something that made it easy for a would-be assassin to pick out the target.

_I'm going to do this_, she thought as she loaded her gun with a single bullet.

She sighed and slouched down on the floor, lying on her belly to be undetected. Her job would not fail her, and she was well into her sixties herself. Her sniper rifle in hand as she squinted into the sights. It would be hard to catch her target, he moved in the rhythm and melody of the dance with his wife.

Then, suddenly, Seifer looked up, and looked directly into the woman's single eye. He knew, at that instant, that he would die.

"Never let go, Quistis, never let go," he whispered softly, and then she saw the blood.

Quistis screamed.

_Love can touch us one time_

_And last for a lifetime_

_And never let go til we're gone_

_Love was when I loved you_

_One true time I hold to_

_In my life we will always_

_Go on_

The worst thing happened to her that night, a night that should have been magical, ending so tragically.

Her eldest daughter, Enya, walked forwards, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Yet, even as Enya did so, Quistis did not feel assured. 

~~~@ Years later @~~~

They stood at the simple grave, looking down at the words engraved upon it.

Seifer and Quistis Almasy 

_Together for eternity._

_~_

_She walked up towards a grand staircase, her white dress long and flowing.  His back was to her, and he glanced up at the clock. Quistis felt emotions flooding through her. Friendship, love, and last of all, but not least, courage. He turned, and his scar reminded her of the duel that had won her forever._

_They would be together now, nothing would ever part them, not even death._

You're here, there's nothing I fear For I know that the heart does go on 

_We'll stay forever this way_

_Cuz  you're safe in my heart and_

_My heart will go on and on_

_~_

_A/N. _This is it…The end.


End file.
